20.000 people came to the St Peter’s Basilica May 29th, 2004 (see Euccril 110).

In this issue:
- a report of Alessandra Nucci from Italy
- the complete homily of the pope:
 

Pentecost Vespers with the Holy Father

At the specific invitation of Pope John Paul II, on May 29th the Renewal in the Holy Spirit took part in the celebration of the first Vespers of the Solemnity of Pentecost in Rome. There, on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father gave public recognition and encouragement to the “Burning Bush” prayer initiative, promoted by RnS.

To RnS the summons of the Holy Father was both a surprise and a confirmation: a surprise, because there had been neither a word nor an indication that this might take place; a confirmation, because the annual gathering of RnS at Rimini had anticipated that the Holy Spirit had in store for them the signs of “a new heaven and a new earth”.

In a matter of days the jubilant but understaffed National Service Committee rallied the leaders of the approximately 1800 RnS groups of Italy to answer the summons to Rome, re-assigning people away from already planned local Pentecost events. Eventually, by car, by train and by special coaches, some 20,000 members made it to St Peter’s Square.

The day began at RnS National Headquarters with Mass and prayers in the Chapel, where National Coordinator Salvatore Martinez gathered not only the members of the NSC but also Father (“Don”) Dino, Spiritual Advisor and former Coordinator of RnS, and Kim Catherine-Marie Kollins, a member of the European sub-committee of ICCRS, the first person to whom the Holy Spirit imparted the vision for a “Burning Bush” prayer initiative - a call to return to the Upper Room in adoration and intercession - during Easter week, 1997.

In the afternoon the musicians and choir of RnS gathered on the steps of the Basilica, together with brothers and sisters from all over Italy, for a period of prayer, singing and invocation of the Holy Spirit before the arrival of the Holy Father. During this preliminary time, prayers uttered in tongues were offered up from the visible throne of Peter to the heavenly throne of God.

In his homily, the Pope addressed himself especially to the Renewal in the Spirit, "one of the various expressions of the great family of the Catholic charismatic movement", to whom he attested that: "Thanks to the charismatic movement many Christians - men and women, children and adults - have rediscovered Pentecost as a living reality in their daily lives.”

The Holy Father expressed the “hope that the spirituality of Pentecost may spread through the Church as a renewed impetus of prayer, of sanctity, of communion and of announcement" and then encouraged "the initiative known as the 'Burning Bush,'” explaining that this “involves incessant adoration, day and night, before the Most Holy Sacrament.”

“It is my heartfelt wish”, said the Pope, that the Burning Bush initiative, might “lead many people to rediscover the gifts of the Spirit that have their source in the Pentecost."

The Holy Father’s encouragement for ‘Burning Bush’ is of particular significance in the light of the fact that this initiative takes up a similar request to Leo XIII, the Supreme Pontiff of the turn of the XX century, exactly a century before.

At that time Blessed Elena Guerra, the founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit, wrote twelve letters of exhortation for a renewed preaching on the devotion to the Holy Spirit, which led Pope Leo to issue an Encyclical on the subject and establish a perpetual Novena. However, one final step remained to be taken: to issue a call to a “unanimous” prayers in a “Universal Cenacle”, as in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, so that Christians all over the world would invoke the Holy Spirit to “renew the face of the earth”.

Now, in 2004, in encouraging ‘Burning Bush’, John Paul II was expressing his “invitation to the faithful to 'return to the Cenacle' (i.e.: 'the Upper Room') ”, the same intention as that of Pope Leo’s Pentecost Novena, i.e. “so that, united in contemplation of the Eucharistic Mystery, they may intercede for the full unity of Christians and for the conversion of sinners”.

It was as if the successor of Peter in the third millenium was at last taking up that same exhortation of a century before, that had gone so long unheeded.

Alessandra Nucci

HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II Saturday, 29 May 2004

1. Veni, creator Spiritus!
On the Solemnity of Pentecost, this hymn rises from every part of the Church: Veni, creator Spiritus! The Mystical Body of Christ, scattered throughout the earth, invokes the Spirit from which she draws life, the vital Breath that enlivens her existence and action.

The Antiphons of the Psalms have just reminded us of the experience of the disciples in the Upper Room: "On the day of Pentecost they were all together in one place" (Antiphon 1). "There appeared to the Apostles what seemed like tongues of fire, and the Holy Spirit came upon each of them" (Antiphon 2).

We who are gathered in this Square, which has become a great Upper Room, are also reliving that same spiritual experience. And like us, countless diocesan and parish communities, associations, movements and groups in every part of the world are raising to Heaven our common invocation: Come, Holy Spirit!

2. I greet the Cardinals and other Prelates and priests present. I greet you all, dear brothers and sisters who have wished to take part in this evocative Celebration. I now extend my thoughts to the many young people in Lednica, Poland, who are united with us by radio and television. I address my cordial greeting to you from St Peter's Square. I am praying with you, my dear friends, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. May the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, fill you with the love of Christ to whom you entrust your future. I cordially bless you all.

3. I greet in a special way the members of Renewal in the Spirit, one of the various branches of the great family of the Catholic Charismatic Movement. Thanks to the Charismatic Movement, a multitude of Christians, men and women, young people and adults have rediscovered Pentecost as a living reality in their daily lives. I hope that the spirituality of Pentecost will spread in the Church as a renewed incentive to prayer, holiness, communion and proclamation.
In this regard, I encourage the initiative known as "Burning Bush", promoted by Renewal in the Spirit. This involves perpetual adoration, day and night, before the Blessed Sacrament; it is an invitation to the faithful to "return to the Upper Room", so that, united in contemplation of the Eucharistic Mystery, they may intercede for full Christian unity and for the conversion of sinners. I warmly hope that this initiative will lead many to rediscover the gifts of the Spirit, whose original source is Pentecost.

4. Dear Brothers and Sisters! This evening's celebration reminds me of the memorable encounter with the ecclesial movements and new communities on the eve of Pentecost six years ago. It was an extraordinary epiphany of the Church's unity in the riches and variety of charisms that the Holy Spirit abundantly lavishes upon her. I forcefully repeat what I remarked on that occasion: the ecclesial movements and new communities are a "providential response", "given by the Holy Spirit" to today's demand for the new evangelization, for which "there is so much need today for mature Christian personalities" as well as for "living Christian communities" (cf. Homily at the Prayer Vigil on the Eve of Pentecost, St Peter's Square, 30 May 1998; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 3 June, p. 2).

5. Veni, Sancte Spiritus!
Her hands raised, the Virgin Mother of Christ and of the Church prays among us. With her, let us implore and welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit, the light of truth, the power of authentic peace. Let us do so with the words of the antiphon of the Magnificat that we will sing in a little while:
"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love; though the peoples spoke different tongues you united them in proclaiming the same faith, alleluia".

Sancte Spiritus, veni!

See: www.vatican.va for other translations